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[cool][#0000ff]I doubt that my absence was much noted but I took TubeBabe on a weeklong trip to Hippa Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia. Our two birthdays are close together at the end of July and we decided to give ourselves a present by joining up with TopH20 and his group that make the annual trip for salmon and halibut...and rockfish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Synopsis: Exhausting travel, outrageous Canadian prices on everything, lousy weather. BUT...great fishing, great staff and super food.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I only spent about 15 hours on the water in the 18 foot boats over the 4 days we were at the lodge. Others braved the high winds, big waves and rain a bit more...and caught more fish. But we brought home limits of chinook and coho salmon...and halibut. And we had lots of ling cod and assorted rockfish fillets too. Actually ended up with five boxes of fish...and had to pay extra for the extra box (2 each allowed on Southwest).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The last morning we were there the sun came out and the seas went flat. Wouldn't ya know it? We had to get packed and ready to catch the helicopter out but I let TubeBabe join up with TopH20 and another fishing partner to get in some last minute rod bending. That's what put us over the top on weight limit. But, she had fun.[/#0000ff]
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Minus the weather, sounds like a great trip. No tubing?
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Awesome pictures as always! Seas look a little rough for the tube! Nice trip!!!
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[indent][font "Calibri"]You live life like there’s no tomorrow. I’m jealous as hell!!!! [  ][/font]
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Don't worry a guy like you cannot be forgotten. My twin and I even BS'd with the fish shop workers while you were gone to keep your memory alive. Almost like Martial Arts masters, their dream is to see their system/teachings outlive them. Luckily you were just on vacation so it was only temporary. I have to admit though this may be your "skimpy-est" report yet! Still great though and I wish the weather would have been more cooperative.
I really enjoyed the pics, especially the on of the Vermillion Snapper. I have now added that to my life's bucket list. Please tell me you brought a few home to release in our ponds/lakes. Just kidding bro!
Personally I have not hit a Salt Water for fishing yet. One day my friend, one day. My uncle owns a private island/lodge and they fish for halibut, salmon, and crabs but the $$$ factor stops me from going right now.
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Awesome trip Pat!
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[quote kentofnsl]Minus the weather, sounds like a great trip. No tubing?[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Nay. I follow the beliefs of Dirty Harry..."A man should know his limitations." [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did joke with some of the guys on the way up though. I asked (with a straight face) whether they thought there might be fins big enough for me to use while sitting on the stern of those boats. But when I found that they had gone from a single 75 horse to twin 50's I realized there was just no place I could sit while kicking. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The waves would build each day until we were riding on the tops of some bigguns...and then would plunge into the valleys between. Our partner boats would competely disappear at times. More than once us float tuber types chanted the mantra "Not float tube water....not float tube water."[/#0000ff]
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Nice report and pics Pat, if you don't mind me asking, what does four days at a
resort like that cost?
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Looks like you guys had fun. Glad you survived the weather and made it an awesome trip.
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"Please tell me you brought a few home to release in our ponds/lakes. Just kidding bro!"
[cool][#0000ff]I know that your suggestion for salt to fresh water bucket biology was only in jest. But...I did bring some fillets to "release in the grease". All those fish are superb table fare.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Thanks for your kindly words.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]No way I could get away with posting a "complete" report over a several day fishing trip. I took a couple of hundred pictures and I am still editing and labeling them. Here are a few more for your enjoyment.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks, TD. Now you owe me for a new keyboard. I just drooled all over mine!!! Wow, you sure got some nostalgia going for me! Especially the fog and rocky shores -- I could smell the west coast of my childhood again. Love the west coast! Bad weather and all. I just wouldn't care to be back out in a boat in that nice chop!!!
Beautiful fish too! For eating my favorites have to be the halibut, rockfish, and lings. They beat salmon hands down any day. Fresh ocean fish ---- wow!!
Thanks for posting it.
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Nice report Pat!
Now that's some good eats. Which is your favorite - or is that like picking between kids?
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[quote wiperhunter2]Nice report and pics Pat, if you don't mind me asking, what does four days at a
resort like that cost?[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]As the old Cadillac salesman used to say "If ya gotta ask the price you probably cain't afford it."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, the lodge prices are probably pretty fair, considering that they include shuttle airfare from Vancouver to Sandspit...on the Queen Charlottes east side...and then helicopter shuttle up over the mountains to Hippa Island on the other side. With fuel going for about $6 per gallon up there that can be spendy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The prices include double occupancy rooms that are pretty nicely appointed, 3 meals a day...including 4 star gourmet evening meals from a super chef. Also included are 1/2 day of guided fishing assistance each day, boats, gas, bait, tackle and as much help as you require to survive the pounding of the waves in those small boats. At the end of the day the dock staff helps you off the boats, takes the fish to the cleaning area, fillets them and takes them to the freezing room. There they are vacuum packed and flash frozen...to be boxed for flying out later.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Figure around $4K (per person) plus tips for the lodge and staff. Prices are variable according to how early you book and pay...and what level of service you reserve in advance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Add to that the Southwest flight to and from Seattle from Salt Lake, the chartered bus from Seattle to Vancouver (Saves several hundred dollars over flying) and the total of 3 nights lodging and food in Vancouver to coordinate connections...two nights going in and one night coming back. Food and drink prices there are outrageous...with a good $8 breakfast buffet (Utah prices) that costs over $20 after add-ons and taxes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The service at the lodge is fantastic and the food is definitely not non-fattening...although you can eat sensibly from the options provided. They also have exercise facilities and hot tub.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In short, the prices might seem high when compared to other destination fishing locations. But they tow the entire lodge on floats into that site each spring and tow it out in September...and you would never know it had been there in between seasons. They have to also tow in a huge barge full of fuel to provide 20 boats for a full season. It takes 11 hours to fill that barge. I would hate to have to put that on my credit card.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, all of the food and drink has to be flown in by helicopter...just like the guests. It costs about $1700 for every round trip of the choppers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Was it worth it. As the lady from Alaska (and some of the staff at Hippa) might say..."You betcha!"[/#0000ff]
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"Beautiful fish too! For eating my favorites have to be the halibut, rockfish, and lings. They beat salmon hands down any day. Fresh ocean fish ---- wow!!"
[cool] [#0000ff]I love them all...even the salmon. They all have great texture and can be fixed so many different ways. If I had to choose, halibut would have a slight edge over the salmon and rockfish are great anytime.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That part of the earth is definitely one of the most beautiful...even if you are not a fisherperson. Whether flying over it in a helicopter or running along the shoreline in a boat there is a new "photo op" everywhere you look. Green, green, green.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here are a few more pics I squeezed out just for you. Unfortunately, some of the pics I hoped would turn out better were marred by salt spray on the lens or by sudden jarring crashes at the bottom of a wave. I gots a lot of aches and pains that I didn't have before going on those wet roller coaster rides.[/#0000ff]
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[quote Lettsfish]Nice report Pat!
Now that's some good eats. Which is your favorite - or is that like picking between kids?[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]In all seriousness, my favorite is probably whatever happens to be on the menu on any given day...as long as it is properly prepared. Just as with fresh water fish they all have their own unique textures and tastes and each has methods of preparation that help to present them at their best. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, as they say about other things in life..."The worst I ever had was great."[/#0000ff]
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Two questions:
Did you take and use any of your RC killers?
How do you preserve the fish during the flight home?
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[quote TheCarDoctor]Two questions:
Did you take and use any of your RC killers?
How do you preserve the fish during the flight home?[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]No custom lures were harmed in the completion of this trip. But a lot of guys did use a wide variety of lures with great success. In fact, it was almost obscene. The salmon were so thick and so aggressive you couldn't NOT catch them. We would try to get our baits of lures down past 100 feet to fish for the larger chinooks, only to have the 20 pound cannonballs on the downriggers stopped by cohos intercepting us on the way down. And then when we finally limited on chinooks and decided to top off our coho limits we fished shallower...and caught some of our largest kings.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TopH20 keeps a light spinning outfit at the lodge to play with cohos. He had a ball throwing a small spoon or Freshwater Basics tube jigs. Besides the frisky silvers he also did epic battle with a hefty king salmon...close to 30 pounds. They are tough even on stout salmon gear.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The rockfish were just as eager. Dropping the bait on a 10 ounce sinker to the bottom...in about a hundred feet of water...it was not uncommon to have a fish before you got to the bottom...and even some salmon out in the rockfish grounds. My prize story is catching a black rockfish on the tandem hook rig...with no bait...while the rod was in the holder and the sinker and hooks barely in the water while taking care of another fish I had just caught. I looked over and saw the rod tip pulling down and wondered if I had accidently hit the freespool. Nope. A silly fish had come all the way up in the water column to hit two bare nickle hooks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were joking that we probably could have caught fish on an old tennis shoe...at least with the right colored laces.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Edit: Forgot to answer the second part. The lodge freezes the fillets and packs them in insulated cardboard boxes. They will remain frozen even outside the freezer for quite a long time. But the boxes go into a special fisherman's freezer at the hotel in Vancouver for the night we stay there. Then they are all packed closely together in the charter bus luggage compartment and again in the Southwest plane from Seattle to Salt Lake. As might be expected, there is some thawing but if you get them right into a waiting freezer they are soon hard again. And they last for over two years, according to reports from some of the regulars.[/#0000ff]
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Great report and looks like some good eats as well. I was also wondering what kind of jigs you worked up to take up there with you? [ ]
Now you need to focus on figuring out where all those jumbo perch are hiding at over at Starvation and let the rest of us know! [  ]
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[cool][#0000ff]Weight restrictions are very tight on the helicopter ride in...maximum 25# of luggage. Not a lot of wiggle room for a bunch of heavy bottom bouncing jigs. But some of the regulars carry in a few or ship some up between trips and the folks at the lodge are good about keeping rods, reels and tackle for those who plan to return.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Effective lures for salmon are big dodgers and squid (like kokanee), wobbling spoons, big plugs, etc. Good lures for deep jigging for halibut and rockfish are big silver spoons and heavy jig heads rigged with big plastic tails. Think 16 ounces...not 1/16 ounce. Some guys just slide a big plastic squid down over a big hook and then split ring it to a 16 oz. plain lead torpedo sinker. Works even better if you decorate it with a chunk of octopus or a slab of salmon belly. Big ling cod and halibut love that stuff. And if you want to keep off the small halibut...under 50 pounds...use a whole big salmon head.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The trip didn't spoil me for Starvation. But I gotta admit it was mucho fun watching line disappear from from stout salt water gear. Don't get much of that at Starvation.[/#0000ff]
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So great to have you back.
I am so jealous right now..... And I have a bunch of relatives in B.C.!!!!
Thanks for taking us all along with you via your report.
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